>> building a better bay area. moving forward and finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. anchor: you are watching getting answers. we asked experts your questions everyday at 3:00 to get answers for you. today, we will get into vaccine religious exemptions. what they are? and why they are so rare? and we will talk to a student athlete featured in an abc seven original series following his journey and challenges navigating through the pandemic. bay area counties issued a joint statement today spelling out what conditions need to be met for each county to lift its indoor mask mandate.

solano does not have a mask mandate. san francisco was part of the announcement but it also announced it will be lifting the mandate next friday not universally but in specific situations with specific conditions met. we are happy today to have on our show san francisco public health officer, dr. susan philip. thank you for being with us. before we get into the san francisco specific order, let's explain the conditions that the public health officers have agreed to that need to be met for the mandate to be lifted. the county needs to be in the cdc's yellow transition tear meaning moderate risk. we will show the real-time map you can see the bay area. i can see a lot of orange. what does this mean? guest: san francisco is still in the substantial year but we are getting close to moderate.

and we translate the cdc's numbers for what is required on a weekly basis, it translates into having about seven cases per 100,000 per day on average and we are around nine. we are getting close. anchor: why are we in orange? i thought we were in yellow and things were trending better. why are we progressing in the orange direction? guest: the cdc data little bit. california is doing the best of any of the states right now and the bay area doing well. i don't have an answer for why still orange but i can tell you that i am optimistic. anchor: the condition is not yet met. second condition you set today, covid-19 hospitalizations in the jurisdiction are low and stable in the judgment of the health officer. has san francisco met that condition? guest: we are meeting that

condition. this is somewhat subjective. it is about making sure we keep our hospital capacity, a big reason why we put in all the health orders to date. we have been averaging about 65 people in the hospital with covid. we would love for those people not to be there but our hospitals can handle that level. if we stay at or below that level, we will meet that criteria. anchor: one of two conditions met. the third condition -- 80% of the total population needs to be fully vaccinated or eight weeks have passed since the vaccination has been authorized. let's break this down. let's take the first part. we are looking at the san francisco dashboard. san francisco is at 75% of the total population fully vaccinated. you need to get to 80%. how long do you think until we reach 80%? guest: it is remarkable san

francisco's percent population is as high as it is. 75% is remarkable. and that is not just looking at those 12 and older but includes younger children as well. that is where we will get the number to go from 75% up to 80%. it will need the inclusion of those 5-11-year-olds in that number. today, we heard pfizer is putting in its data to apply for authorization in kids as young as five. we hope early next month at the latest that we will hear that the authorization is in place and we can start making axing available to have san francisco kids. anchor: that is big news. why the "or why is set that marker? is that because that is how long you think it will take to vaccinate a percentage of the

5-11-year-olds? guest: yes. we are doing this regionally because we wanted to think through their criteria and how the public understand that these are uniformly what we think are the most important markers for when it is time and when it will be safe to remove the general indoor masking requirement. the "aura" shows that in some counties that may have fewer children than san francisco, they may get to 80% more quickly than other counties. anchor: bottom line, how, how, w you think before san francisco hits all three of those checkboxes? guest: to get that 5% population will be about 43,000 people in san francisco. that is approximately the number of kids we have ages 5-11. it will take that eight weeks. we are working to make sure that the vaccine is easily available and access is not the barrier.

anchor: let me add -- it seems we are looking around christmas time before you think indoor mask mandates can be universally lifted in san francisco? guest: i think it is more likely that the eight weeks well come into play and it will likely be after the new year, after the holidays. anchor: i know you also do projections on how quickly the 5-11-year-olds can get vaccinated but i wonder if you have any concerns that enough parents will not? parents are being asked about getting the vaccine for their kids and one third said they would do it right away and another one third said they will wait and see and the other one third said they will not do it or only if not required. --or only if required. are you concerned? guest: what i will say to that is that there is a lot of work that is happening now even

before a vaccine is available to kids to make sure that pediatricians and other trusted experts in the community and parents have the information that we have now and as information keeps coming in, we will keep sharing it including the process and to show that our data is just as rigorous if not more than what was required for adults. yes, we want to make sure that people are comfortable. it is also recognizing why we have that alternative "or." we want to allow families that time. at the end of that time, we will consider the criteria then. anchor: let's talk about san francisco's announcement that you will lift the mask mandate friday for some situations. explain to us which indoor settings will no longer be subject to the mandate. and which will still require a mask. guest: we are going along with the region, with the larger

settings. these specific settings are going sooner. the mask requirement has been so important. as delta was surging up, we know the additional production of masks on top of the tax scenes have kept people out of the hospital. the places we are saying it is safer to be able to remove face coverings next friday are those places where there is more of a stable, fixed population of people coming in. these are the places that have membership or there are employees within the location. it is not places where the public comes and goes quite frequently. we are talking mostly about offices, gyms, some houses of worship. and they all have to meet criteria including having ventilation in place, no outbreaks in place in the last

two weeks. there is criteria they have to meet. and they may not choose to do it. it is an option there for their employees and their guests and members. anchor: let's talk about the workplace. my office for example. what would be proper ventilation? do you spell out what that means? and what about outbreaks --notno even one case? guest: outbreaks a a a cases. that is how cal osha defines an outbreak. there are multiple ways that people can achieve ventilation. cannot have members of the public or people not employees in an office coming in and out. if that is happening, everyone will have to wear a mask. that can be true on the first floor there could be public services or people having meetings but on the other

floors, with just employees, you could remove the mask requirement if you have met the other pieces. anchor: i also noticed another stipulation that says if the employer and host can control access to the setting and verify 100% full vaccination of everyone in the setting, does that mean it is not met employee has an exemption? guest: if there is an exemption, that area would still have to mask. in this particular piece of order as it is written now, it cannot allow exemptions to occur. face coverings would have to continue. and that would have to remain in place until all of the requirements were lifted with the criteria for the bay area that we just talked about which will come down the line. anchor: i think san francisco already leads cities in terms of vaccine requirements. can we expect anymore in the

near future? guest: employers are doing that for themselves. as a city, we have been thoughtful about putting the vaccine requirements into settings where we thought the risk was higher for transmission or where there is more risk for the populations involved including high risk settings like hospitals, shelters, corrections and also at large events like arenas. we do not anticipate any changes to that. we continue to follow the signs and the data. i -- as new information emerges, we will come back to the public. right now, we are confident we have the measures in place and san franciscans have the access and the know-how. anchor: dr. susan phillips, san francisco's public health officer, thank you for the information in your time. coming up next, we will talk to a law professor as more people are asking for relig

anchor: welcome back. as more employers and schools are requiring the covid vaccine, more people are seeking religious exemptions. there are many facebook groups devoted to sharing reasons for exemptions so what exactly qualifies? joining us now is a professor of law at uc hastings specializing in vaccine law. thank you for your time today. guest: thank you for having me. anchor: the civil rights act allows for exemptions based on sincerely held religious beliefs. what counts? guest: a religious exemption has to be religious. that includes three parts.

first, it has to be about fundamental matters such as life and death, the meaning of life. second, it has to be part of the comprehensive religious system. cannot say i am scared of the vaccine and i think the virus is not dangerous and here is one biblical verse that supports this. it has to fit in with the broader system of belief. and finally, most but not all religions come with an external symbol. you do not have to have that but if you do, it might support your request. it has to be religious and sincere. it has to be something the believer really believes in. anchor: in this country, we do not rank certain religions to be more worthy and legitimate than others, if we say it is sincerely held belief, let's say i stay under the church of kristin it is against our

beliefs to get a vaccine, how would an employer argue against that? by nature that is personal. guest: you're getting at the problem. it is hard to police certain religious beliefs. first, as you rightly say, it comes down to, is this person telling the truth? that is hard to get at. you cannot assess if the belief is rational or fits with the religious belief. for instance, it can be hard. an employer can ask questions trying to get an answer so asking about consistency of practice, asking about approach to other products that may have the same issue. for example, if a believer says, my concern is that it uses cells from abortions in the 1960's in the testing, you ask, here are

30 other products that use that including tylenol. maybe you did not know until now but will you avoid them from now on? you can ask people how they developed their belief but it is hard. the other part is trying to get the sincerity can end up giving exemptions to those that are better liars or those that got help such as a vaccine activist. anchor: right. if you have this interview process to determine how sincere and how consistent that belief or argument is, it is a case-by-case thing. i wonder if the employer needs to go buy a certain set of standards or are there thresholds laid out somewhere? does the law spell it out? guest: the law gives you a set of things that you can do. you can demand that the person

get information from a religious leader. you cannot say if you are a catholic and the pope supports the vaccine, you cannot have a religious exemption. this is about respecting your conscience. other than that, the law does not give clear guidance. one hospital for example told employees from here is a list of 30 other things that use questionable things, will you refrain from using them? some except all requests. anchor: it is because there is a variance that you get into difficulties. i want to mention, you talked about other things that use thee fetal cell lines such as hepatitis a vaccine, childhood vaccines. with childhood vaccines, you do not have a choice to claim

religious exemption. you have to get it? guest: under our law, you do not have a nonmedical requirement. it is a little different for children. children cannot make religious choices. the argument for requiring vaccines for children is stronger because we do limit parental ability to limit these choices. a jehovah witness can refuse it for themselves but if they try to refuse it for a child, there is a risk that a hospital may go to court and get them ordered to do it anyway. anchor: professor, a professor of law at uc hastings specializing in vaccine law. we appreciate your time and we hope to talk again soon. coming up next, we talked to a local student athlete that is been featud

anchor: abc 7 original series

follows local student athlete that had to endure the pandemic in t c. one of those students is tejon hale. >> coming from a single-parent home and not having all the resources made it a little difficult for him. having that constant didn't -- not having that constant structure. my coach and i tried to do as much as we could to support him and make sure he was on track with everything. >> people that just wanted me to be on the team. >> if we can help him develop, v that is what it is all about. to give him a chance. >>

guard with a solid skill set. >> he does a nice job making plays in transition. he moves well with the ball in a ha he finishes well on a drive. >> he is a 2021 prospect worth checking out. that is pretty much how to describe me. >> if they read that, in their mind, they are saying that is a kid i need to go watch and play. but what can you do if you can't watch the kid play? anchor: that breaks my heart but we are having some issues connecting with him right now. you can watch all five episodes of the season right now on the abc 7 streaming tv app for ro

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anchor: more at home covid test could be coming to store shelves and hopefully at a better price point. kate larson has more on the push from the federal government to increase access. reporter: a new less expensive at home covid test is on the way. on monday, the fda authorized the flow test. on wednesday, the white house announced a $1 billion investment to manufacture at home rapid test. >> we are on track to quadruple the supply of at home rapid test available to americans by december. reporter: at the beginning of august, there was an abundant is but now it is hit or miss. ever since school started, it

has been in high demand. rose miller says her grandson in kindergarten has already taken two at home covid test this school year which their family prefers over the other test. >> he feels more comfortable in the home. reporter: the white house says the test will be less than $10 per test. sammy says he needs the at-home test because he is taking care of his elderly father. >> it was difficult to locate them and when i did, they were pretty expensive. having affordable at home testing kits is a good move. >> i hope the supply chains for these tests really open up. reporter: joseph helps tests. >> at $10 a pop, we are a family of five, that is $50. >> i hope the price comes down,

one because there is competition in the marketplace and number two, because the government should subsidize them to some levels so they can be accessed by more people. reporter: with the school year underway and holidays approaching, the at-home covid test have the potential to bring people together safely. an infectious disease specialist says -- >> one of my colleagues testedod everyone in the driveway with a test. just to add that layer of security. reporter: at home antigen test's are not quite as sensitive as pcr tests. they are most act -- they are most accurate when people have covid system -- covid symptoms. anchor: we now have guidelines for lifting mask mandates in bay

area counties. the jurisdiction needs to be in the yellow tier for three weeks. covid-19 hospitalizations are low and stable. and third, 80% of the jurisdiction's is fully vaccinated or eight weeks have passed since the vaccine was authorized by federal and state authorities for 5-11-year-olds. pfizer submitted the request to the fda for emergency use authorization for 5-11-year-olds. in terms of the first criteria, the yellow tier, that is not any of the counties in the bay area right now. all are in the orange transmission tier we need to be at moderate risk and be there for three weeks. and san francisco announced its other subset of restrictions for lifting the masked man to and that is next friday. san francisco will lift mandates inside where stable individuals are fully vaccinated.

fully vaccinated people that meet regularly. thank you for joining us and i tonight, news on the pfizer vaccine that could effect millions of children. the important timeline for parents tonight. pfizer officially asking the fda to authorize its covid vaccine for children 5 to 11. it would be one-third of the adult dose. how soon before the fda and the cdc could give this the okay? and what the cdc is now saying tonight on the flu shot. how soon should you be getting it? also tonight, abortion and the legal battle unfolding right now in texas. a judge now halting that state's new controversial law banning nearly all abortions in that state. but where this heads next and why many clinics are hesitate to reopen in texas. submarine